Frankie Stevens, 67, helped organize the Sacred Heart Angels to raise money for Sacred Heart School north of downtown Lake Worth. The group also helps with paperwork, answering phones and bandaging knees. Photo by Jean Hart Howard
Frankie Stevens has seen the world. Born in Britain, she lived in Europe and Asia as a child, became a flight attendant and flew internationally, then married a “Yank” whose career in the radio business kept them moving from city to city.
Today, after raising three children and settling in Gulf Stream, Stevens’ sights are set squarely on Palm Beach County. She’s a volunteer extraordinaire; on any given day you may find her tutoring a child, feeding the hungry, educating museum-goers, or serving at her church.
“I follow what comes in front of me to see where it’s going,” says Stevens.
It’s always been that way, she says, dating back to her college days as a radiographer (similar to a medical X-ray technician), when a friend submitted her name for a stewardess position with British Overseas Airways Corporation. Only one in 600 applicants were accepted. Stevens made the cut, and it changed her trajectory.
During one of her cross-Atlantic trips, Stevens visited a former roommate who had moved to New York City.
“My girlfriend said, ‘Come over for a drink. I have this dishy chap here who will take us to dinner.’ ”
Within four months, Stevens and the chap were married. “We had absolutely nothing in common, but we loved each other,” she says of her husband, “and it’s worked for 45 years.”
Clearly, “following what comes in front of her” has been a way of life. So when Stevens learned last year that Sacred Heart School in Lake Worth was in dire financial straits, Stevens saw an opportunity to help. She organized a team of volunteers called the Sacred Heart Angels to raise money and assist teachers and staff.
Stevens also serves on the school’s board of directors, which hopes to create an endowment to support Sacred Heart in perpetuity. And last month she was honored for her “Angels” work at a school fundraiser, the fourth annual J.K. Kenny Memorial Heroes Pro-Am Golf Tournament at the Fountains Country Club in Lake Worth.
“Sacred Heart is a school for the community,” Stevens says. “We are embracing the community and saying we’ll be there for you.”
— Paula Detwiller
10 Questions
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I lived all over the world. Daddy was in the Royal Air Force and then with British Aircraft Corp. I lived in Germany in 1946, Singapore during merdeka, the struggle for independence from Great Britain. I lived all over England, Scotland and Wales.
I primarily went to all-girl Catholic schools. I graduated from St. Roses in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in the Cotswolds. I then was at Kings College London and flew in the mid-1960s for BOAC. I was in the first crew trained on VC 10’s — the first rear-engine commercial jet. I flew to the Far East, Middle East, all over Africa, South America and the U.S.
Q. How did you become involved with Sacred Heart School?
A. The Ladies Guild of St. Edward Church in Palm Beach had the Children’s Choir of Sacred Heart come to sing at our Christmas program two years ago. I was immensely impressed with the students and teachers. I then read that they were in danger of closing. That got my dander up. I felt that such a school committed to quality education and one that truly was a beacon of hope and love in this poor part of our Delray, Boynton Beach and Lake Worth community, should not be allowed to languish.
Q. Tell us about the Sacred Heart Angels and how you came to start this group.
A. So I went to the school and said, “What can I do to help?” At the same time I had had a group of my friends over for a dinner-and-a-movie night, and we discussed that we would all be able to give of our talents in any way we could. Many of us are not financially able to help, but we thought physically “being there” for the students and the school might benefit the school as a whole and maybe get the ball rolling.
I also wrote everyone I know, both here and other places, and told them to watch the YouTube SOS — Save Our School — music video. We raised over $6,000.
We called ourselves the Sacred Heart Angels. We assist the school secretary with paperwork, answer phones, and help Principal Candace Tamposi in any way we can. We help in Pre-K and kindergarten classes. We tutor reading and math in the upper grades. We bandage knees — you name it, we do it. Some of us work once a week, others twice a week.
Q. What other work experiences have you had, and what were the highlights?
A. I was a radiographer at Kings College London Hospital. I received my B.A. at Sarah Lawrence College in my mid-40s. I have volunteered at C.R.O.S. Ministries in Delray Beach. I am a docent at the Norton Museum of Art. I am a Eucharistic minister and a lector at St. Edward Church. I also have helped run the coffee after Mass program there for last 10 years. I have always volunteered in schools and in the community.
Q. What advice do you have for a young person pursuing a career today?
A. Get involved. Realize that giving is part of what makes us truly human. And follow your passion without damaging the world around you. As my father would say, “Leave everything better than you found it.”
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Gulf Stream?
A. I love the quiet neighborhood and being able to walk my dog, Wolfie, without a care and chat to everyone along the way. Plus, we benefit by having a school here. It is great to hear children’s voices. Also, being able to go to the beach — although these days I do not have much time to do that.
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. PBS radio and, on my Internet radio, the London Classical Music Station.
Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. My science teacher Miss Barry at St. Roses. She encouraged my passion of exploration and enquiry. Also, the teachers at Sarah Lawrence who did the same thing, and my friend Gertrude Matthews who at 102 is still vibrant and young who never says a nasty word about anybody or anything.
Q. If your life story were made into a movie, whom would you want to play you?
A. Katharine Hepburn.
Q. Who or what makes you laugh?
A. I am a Brit so I love puns and situational comedy. My mother and I used to be in stitches watching I Love Lucy. Also, my husband, who is smart and very funny.
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